I'm not having any success placing a .mp4 streaming video link in Acrobat Pro X that will play inside (not embedded) the PDF. My client has provided me with a couple of links, and the video tool field accepts it, but nothing plays. I can download and embed the actual file from my desktop fine. Being a long time print designer, this is my first attempt to create an ebook with video from an existing print project - so i have limited understanding of formats, server behavior, and such. Can anyone help me?

Flash Player (which runs the video tool in Acrobat) will play streaming content only if it's being delivered from Adobe Flash Media Server (i.e. using the rtmp or rtmpe protocols). As you can 'download' the file it cannot be a stream, so I assume it's a regular web URL using http. These are supported provided the URL ends in '.mp4' and it doesn't require authentication - but without knowing the file details I can't say why it's not working in your case.

Dave, maybe seeing the links that my client has given me will help. One is just as you said that was given to me just to test pointing to a link with the video (although not streaming). However, this would not work either.

OMG...i had tried replacing the widget yesterday, but apparently did so with the Acrobat 9 widget - which obviously didn't work. So, the new widget worked like a charm - wonder why Adobe hasn't done an update for a very important feature - since no one will be able to get streaming links to work without it...

By the way, is there a way to delete the links and references in above posts to my client's files, and maybe replace with your own examples? I don't want to tax my clients server - which could happen since a lot of people may have the same problem.

Now I have another problem with this project hopefully you can help me with!

I've created an ebook workbook test doc in Acrobat Pro X, and added sticky notes at the end of each multiple choice question, that when the student clicks on it will show the correct answer and explanation - which is very cool!

However, we want learners to be able to use the workbook on various platforms and devices including iOS. The only free software option that i can find that will play the video and keep the links on ipad, iphone, ipod touch is ibooks. The ONLY problem is my stickies/comments/annotations do not work. Ugh. I know Acrobat Reader won't work since iOS doesnt support Flash, and the video and links won't work (however, the comments do show).

Can you recommend any workaround for this? We are two weeks away from launch...............

There's a version of Adobe Reader for iOS devices that will display comments, but it doesn't support scripting or rich media annotaions. Right now there are no apps that provide that functionality on iOS, due to the limitations of rendering Flash and JS content imposed by Apple. Realistically if you have to support iOS, the only option is to export from InDesign via the Digital Publishing Suite, and make a native iOS app.

More features are coming to Adobe Reader on mobile devices in the future, but I cannot talk about when or if we'll have support for RMA and JS content.

Does this method work to stream video through a PDF on the iPad or only a computer? I am using the widget and instructions above. The video plays fine in the PDF when viewing from my desktop, but when attempting to view the video in the PDF file on the iPad (using Adobe Reader app), the video is simply a rectangle with a black border, white fill, and a small play button that doesnt work. SO, when tapping the button to play, nothing happens.

Here is what I am doing:

From Acrobat Pro X,

Selecting Content>Multimedia>Video

Drawing the video player on the page

Entering the ul. Here is a mock example: (note: this is a Sharepoint if it matters...)

As per my previous reply, iPad does not support Flash Player, which is currently required in order to display any type of Rich Media Annotation in a PDF file.

Provided the video is in a supported format and has a public URI, you could include a simple text link to the MP4 file within your PDF, and let the iPad handle it via the usual browser methods - but it won't play inside the PDF document.

Thank you for the quick response. I misunderstood. I was thinking that by using the widget and an H2.64 video for iPad (mp4) that together it was creating streaming video in a PDF that is not converted to Flash or swf, which as pointed out is not compatible with iPad. So, the pupose of the widget is that it allows streaming of video (e.g. mp4) for a PDF viewed on a computer vs. embedding the actual video in the PDF? ..and it still converts the video to Flash?

My goal is to have an iPad workbook of sorts w/ a video player that is streaming the video vs embedding it.

- PDF seems to be out unless I want to link it and have the video open in a browser.

- I tried creating an epub using InDesign, which allowed me to embed the mp4 and played on the iPad fine in iBooks, but it makes the epub file large and I'd rather stream the video.

- When using the "place a video from url option" in InDesign, the epub will not play the video in iBooks and only shows the poster image.

Do you have any recommendations or even other Adobe tools that will help accomplish my goal?

When you insert a Rich Media Annotation for an external video in a PDF file, the annotation that is created contains the default videoPlayer.swf widget and a tag to pass that widget the URI of your video file. The file itself is not embedded and is of course not altered in any way, but Adobe Reader can only play back the video by loading the SWF widget - there is no 'native' video player tool in Adobe Reader on any platform.

Because iOS doesn't support Flash or JS, Adobe Reader on iOS ignores RMA content completely even if the video file or URI would itself be understood by external programs on your iOS device. This may change in future, but right now the only way to get a video to appear on an iPad is to send it as a standalone asset.

FYI - you refer to 'streaming' but any video delivered by HTTP is not streamed, it's merely downloaded. Streaming implies negotiation between the client and server to provide 'live' frame data at an agreed bandwidth, and is run on entirely different protocols such as RTMP.